The US Supreme Court on Thursday handed President Donald Trump a significant victory by ruling 6-3 to uphold the federal government's authority to turn away asylum seekers when officials deem U.S.-Mexico border crossings too overburdened to handle additional claims. The decision, powered by the court's conservative justices, overturned a lower court's finding that the policy violated federal law.
Details of the Metering Policy
The policy, known as 'metering,' allowed U.S. immigration officials to stop asylum seekers at the border and indefinitely decline to process their claims. Under U.S. law, a migrant who 'arrives in the United States' may apply for asylum and must be inspected by a federal immigration official. The legal issue in the case was whether asylum seekers stopped on the Mexican side of the border have arrived in the United States.
Court's Ruling and Dissent
Conservative Justice Samuel Alito authored the majority opinion, which was joined by the court's other five conservative justices. The three liberal justices dissented, prompting an unusual impromptu rebuke from Alito. The ruling was one of two immigration-related cases issued by the court on Thursday backing Trump.
Impact and Future of the Policy
The Republican president's administration has indicated it may seek to revive the metering policy after it was dropped by Trump's Democratic predecessor Joe Biden. The policy is separate from a sweeping measure to deny entry to asylum seekers at the border that Trump announced after returning to the presidency last year. That policy also faces an ongoing legal challenge.
